The present invention relates to a printable form, and more particularly, to a form having a wristband accompanied by an extender band. The printable form may also include a plurality of detachable labels. The form, bands and labels may be printed with information in a single pass through a printer.
It is a common practice in hospitals to identify patients with a bracelet or band containing the patient's name or other identification information. The band is generally secured around the wrist of a patient so that hospital personnel can properly identify the patient during his stay. While this has been an effective method of identifying patients, many hospitals have had problems correlating patient information on specimens, drug prescriptions, physician's orders, and the like. Clerical errors in the handling of such routine matters can result in the dispensing of the wrong medicine or treatment to a patient. Additionally, creating the wristband for the patient at the time that the patient is admitted to the hospital took more time than was desired.
Several attempts were made to improve the correlation of patient information to various hospital forms. For example, Falla, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,947 teaches a pre-packaged patient identification kit which includes a wristband, a specimen container, and a label for attachment to a patient's record, all of which are provided with identical patient information. Weichselbaum et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,112, teaches a patient identification system in which an identification bracelet secured to a patient is used to dispense a series of tags which are magnetically coded with patient information.
Huddleston et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,472 discloses a significant improvement in patient wristbands. Huddleston teaches a multi-ply, printable form, that includes a wristband and a plurality of removable labels. The wristband and the labels all carry adhesive on their back surfaces, permitting them to be secured to the patient's wrist in the case of the wristband, or attached to a patent chart, to reports, to specimen containers, and the like in the case of the labels. While the Huddleston form was a significant improvement, the wristband of Huddleston et al was limited in length and therefore might not be usable with a patient having an unusually large wrist, or when the band was to be applied to a patient's ankle or leg.
Riley; U.S. Pat. No. 7,017,294 recognized this problem and addressed it by including an extender band on a wristband form. The extender band of Riley is made from the same two plies of material which make up the principle wristband. The extender band of Riley has a fold over or “clamshell” portion at one end of the extender band, carrying an adhesive coating. The “clamshell portion is folded over the end of the principal wristband and adhesively secured to both the upper surface and the lower surface of the principal wristband. With an extender band, the wristband is not limited in length to the overall length of the form on which the wristband is carried. The combination of the wristband and the extender band can be used on larger patients. It will be appreciated, however, that the Riley wristband and extender band are somewhat complicated in construction, requiring the application of both adhesive and release coating in patterns, and requiring that both the face sheet and release sheet be die cut. Further, the use of the wristband and extender band of Riley may be more complicated than desired.
Accordingly, there is a need in for an identification system of simple construction which includes a wristband, and an extender band, and, optionally, an accompanying series of labels or tags, which can be efficiently provided with correlating identification information, and which can be easily dispensed and used for a variety of applications.